Adjustable door supporting crank arm



a. E. DATH ADJUSTABLE DOOR SUPPORTING crumx ARM Filed Aug. 21, 1948 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

May 22, 1951 e. E. DATH ADJUSTABLE DOOR SUPPORTING CRANK ARM- 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 21, 1948 Ira 879522": George Patented May 22, 1951 ADJUSTABLE D002 SUPPORTING CRANK George E. Dath, Mokena, Ill., assignor to W. H.

Miner, Inc., Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Application August 21, 1948, Serial No; 45,477

3 Claims. (01. 16-105) This invention relates to improvements in supporting crank arms for sliding doors of railway cars, and more particularly to means for adjusting such crank arms to raise or lower the height of the door to properly align the same with the door openmg.

Other objects of the invention will more clearly appear from the description and claims hereinafter following.

In the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, Figure l is a front elevational View, partly broken away, of the side wall of a railway car provided with a door opening and a sliding door for closing the opening, illustrating my improvements in connection therewith. Figure 2 is an enlarged front elevational view, partly broken away, of the door supporting crank arm and its bearing bracket, at the left hand lower corner portion of the door, as shown in Figure 1. Figure 3 is a vertical sectional view, corresponding substantially to the line 33 of Figure 2. Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional view, corresponding substantially to the line 4-4 of Figure 2. Figure 5 is a broken view, similar to Figure 3, but showing the door supporting crank member in elevation and illustrating the manner of application of the adjusting shims. Figure 6 is a view, similar to Figure 3, partly broken away, showing a different position of adjustment of the door supporting crank member.

In said drawings, l indicates the side wall of a .railway car, provided with a door opening H,

closed by a sliding door I 2, supported by the usual front and rear crank members l3 and I4 journaled in carriers I--l5 slidable on a lengthwise extending track Hi. The sliding door I2 is further provided with the usual lever actuated rotary operating bar l1, having keeper engaging means l8 thereon, engageable with a fixed keeper l9.

As is the usual practice, the operating bar I! has a driving connection with the rear crank member M to produce intermittent rotation of the same, coordinated with the operation of the keeper engaging means to move the door into and out of the door opening. The crank members l3 and M are of the usual design, having crank arms Ell-2U journaled at their outer ends in the carriers Iii-45 and provided with upstanding cylindrical shafts 2 l2l at their inner ends journaled on the door.

In carrying out my invention I provide front and rear bearing brackets A and B on the door if in which the shafts 2I 2l of the crank arms 2fl-20 of the front and rear crank members are journaled. The bearing brackets A and B are of similar design, with the exception that the rear 2 bracket B is relatively wider than the bracket A and is provided with bearing means in addition to the bearing means for the shaft 2! for rotatably supporting the operating bar IT.

The bearing bracket A comprises a back plate 22 and an overlying cover plate 23. The cover plate 23 has laterally projecting securing flanges 24-24 at opposite sides and a central, forwardly projecting section of U-shaped transverse cross section forming a bearing sleeve member 25. The back plate 22 has laterally projecting flanges 2626 and top and bottom, forwardly projecting bearing lugs 2l2l which extend into the U- shaped bearing sleeve member 25 of the cover plate 23. The lugs 2l-2'! present vertically extending, transversely concave bearing surfaces 28-28 opposed to the concave inner wall of the sleeve member 25 and forming, with the wall of said sleeve, complete bearing members in which the shaft 2| is rotatably journaled. The flanges 24-24 of the cover plate 23 overlie the flanges 2626 of the back plate 22 and have their outer edges turned backwardly or inwardly, as indicated at 29-29, to overlie the vertical outer edges of the flanges 2626, as clearly shown in Figure 4. The bearing bracket A is fixed to the door l2 by bolts 3IJ-3ll extending through suitable openings in the cover and back plates 23 and 22 of said bracket, and through the door. Adjacent its upper end, the sleeve member 25 of the cover plate 23 is enlarged, as indicated at 3|, to accommodate a cylindrical enlargement 32 formed on the shaft 2|. This enlarged portion of the sleeve 25 is of considerably greater height than the ver-.- tical dimension of the enlargement 3! of the shaft 2|, thus providing for upward and downward displacement of the shaft in the bracket A. The front wall of the sleeve member 25, immediately above the enlarged portion 3| thereof, is horizontally slotted, as shown, to provide an opening 33 through which spacing shims may be inserted.

The sleeve member 25, which is open at the bot tom, is closed at the top by a relatively heavy, horizontal wall 34 extending inwardly from the front wall of said sleeve in overlapping relation to the back plate 22.

One or more adjusting shims in the form of discs are interposed between the upper end of the shaft 2! and the top wall 34 of the sleeve member 25 to effect adjustment of the height of the door, one such shim, which is indicated by 35, being shown in Figure 3, and three such shims, which are indicated by 36, 31, and 38 being shown in Figure 6. These disclike shims 35, 36, ill, and 38 are insertable within the sleeve 25 through the opening 33 thereof, this opening being of ample size to freely admit the shims, one at a time, when the shaft 2| is lowered to clear said opening, as illustrated in Figure 5. As shown in Figure 3, when the shim 35 is in place, the bracket A is supported on the shaft 2| by the wall 35 thereof, which bears on the shim 35, which in turn bears on the upper end of the shaft 25. To adjust the height of the door E2 to a lower level, a shim of lesser thickness than the shim 35 may be used. To raise the door 12 to a higher level than that illustrated in Figure 3, two, three, or more shims may be employed, as for example, three shims 35, 31, and 38, as shown in Figure 6. The shim 35 shown in Figure 3, and the shims 3G, 31', and 38 shown in Figure 6 are effectively confined within the upper end of the sleeve member 25 of the bearing bracket A by the upper end portion of the shaft 2|, which, as shown, blocks the opening 33. In making any change in adjust ment of the height of the door, the door is raised until the upper end of the shaft 2! clears the opening 33 of the bracket A, that until the lower wall of the opening reaches a point above the upper end of the shaft. The proper number of shims of the proper thickness to support the door at the required level are then selected and placed within the sleeve member 25 above the shaft 2| by inserting the same, one at a through the opening 3.5. The door i2 is then lowered to rest on the shaft 2!, supported by the shim or shims interposed between the upper .151 of said shaft and the wall of the bearing bracket.

The portion of the rear bearing bracket B, which accommodates the shaft 28 of the rear crank member M, is similar in construction to the portion of the front bearing bracket A, which accommodates the shaft 2! of the front crank member !3, and is provided with an opening 39 similar to the opening 33 through which the spacing shims are insertable.

I claim:

1. An adjustable supporting means comprising a bracket adapted to be fixed to an object to he supported, a crank arm adapted to be swingingly supported at its outer end and having a vertically extending shaft at its inner end, said bracket including a vertically disposed bearing sleeve into which the shaft extends and is longitudinally slidable, said sleeve being closed at its upper end by a transverse wall, and spacing means comprising at least one shim between said upper end of said shaft and said wall, said spacing means resting on said upper end of said shaft, and said transverse wall resting on said spacing means to support said bearing sleeve on said shaft, said sleeve having an opening in the side wall thereof of a size to admit said shim edgewise, said opening being spaced a distance below said transverse wall which is greater than the height of said spacing means, whereby said shaft projects up wardly past said opening to close the same in the assembled condition of the parts.

2. In an adjustable supporting means, the combination with a bracket adapted to be fixed to an object to be supported; of a crank arm adapted to be swingingly supported at its outer end, said crank arm having a vertically extending shaft at its inner end, said bracket including a vertically disposed bearing sleeve into which the shaft extends and is longitudinally slidable, said sleeve being closed at its upper end by a transverse wall; and spacing means comprising a stack of superimposed shims between said upper end of said shaft and said wall, said spacing means resting on said upper end of said shaft, said transverse wall resting on top of said spacing means to support said bracket on said shaft, said sleeve having an opening in the side wall thereof through which said shims are insertable, one at a time, in edgewise direction, said opening being spaced a distance below said transverse wall which is greater than the height of said spacing means, whereby said shaft projects past said opening to close the same in the assembled condition of the parts.

3. In an adjustable supporting means, the combination with a bracket adapted to be fixed to an object to be supported; of a vertically extending shaft engaged at its upper end with said bracket, said bracket including a vertically disposed bearing sleeve into which the upper end of said shaft extends and is longitudinally slidable, said sleeve having a transverse wall at its upper end closing the same; and spacing means comprising at least one shim, said spacing means being interposed between said upper end of said shaft and said transverse wall, said spacing means resting on said upper end of said shaft, said transverse wail resting on top of said spacing means to support said bracket on said shaft, said sleeve having an opening extending through the side wall thereof of a size to admit said shim in edgewise direction, said opening being spaced a distance below said transverse wall which is greater than the height of said spacing means, whereby said shaft pr0 jects upwardly past said opening to close the same in the assembled condition of the parts.

GEORGE E. DATH.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,134,444 Harsh Oct. 25, 1938 2,150,893 Gibbons et a1 Mar. 21, 1939 2,384,020 Farson Sept. 4, 1945 2,453,793 Hveem Nov. 16, 1948 

